Why does the pertussis vaccine for pregnant women have to be repeated for every pregnancy, even if you are up to date with the boosters or have already had the disease?
The purpose of the pertussis vaccination is neonatal, i.e. it serves to guarantee an immune response from which the unborn child can benefit, through the stimulus for the formation of antibodies that pass from the mother to the child.
While pertussis is generally a non-problematic disease for adults, in the early stages of life it can be very serious and even lead to neonatal death. The woman who has already been vaccinated, or who has had pertussis, does not have a sufficient amount of antibodies to provide this protection. The vaccination, repeated with each pregnancy, ideally around the thirtieth week, helps to create and revive this antibody response which is then passed on to the unborn child.
In the vast majority of cases, neonatal pertussis is passed on by parents or relatives: since the whole family cannot be vaccinated, it is recommended for the people closest to the child, such as the mother. Sometimes, for this reason, it can also be recommended at the time of delivery.
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*Nicola Colacurci is president of the Italian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SIGO)